Goodbye is Not Forever
by Silvertine
Summary: Relatively short, bittersweet ... for my first CCS fic, it sure is a downer... umm, *Kleenex Alert!*


:~: Good-Bye is Not Forever :~:  
By Digigirl  
  
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Sakura Kinomoto raced along the sidewalk, feet and heart pounding at the same time.  
"Hold on...just hold on..." She repeated, over and over.  
Sakura's golden-brown hair lay plastered against her face, and her clothes were soaking wet.  
Did she care? Fat chance.  
Only one, single, pressing thought was on her mind.  
Syaoran.  
  
Sakura approached the Tokyo Hospital, and she pushed open the front doors.  
Nurses, Doctors, and patients milled about, not noticing a soaked, shivering, crying   
16-year old girl with hopelessness painted in her bright green eyes.  
And then, dimly up ahead, she saw them.   
On the stretcher they were pushing...there he lay.   
Sakura's heart wrenched.  
"SYAORAAAAAN!" She screamed, not even noticing how everyone had stopped, and was staring at her.  
She sprinted towards him...closer...closer...  
She was almost there....  
An arm shot up in front of her.  
"Stop right there! You are under no grounds to-"  
"SYAORAN!" Sakura yelled again, stretching her arm towards the quickly-disappearing stretcher.  
The wheels squeaked slowly as it was pushed...she could just make out his face, blood   
surrounding it.  
"SYAORAAAAAAN! NOOOOOOOO!!!" She screamed, sobbing painfully now. "PLEASE! SYAORAN!"  
And then it was gone.   
Sakura sank to her knees in the middle of the busy hospital hallway, tears streaming down her   
flushed cheeks.  
  
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FLASHBACK...  
  
"Li-kuuuun!"  
"Nani?" The 16-year old boy said flatly, looking up at the girl in front of him.  
Correction. YOUNG WOMAN. NOT girl.  
Sakura smiled.  
"Come on! Stop lazing around here by yourself! We're all eating lunch together over by-"  
"Iie. How 'bout...NO."  
"Hoeee! You're such a hermit!"  
"Oh, Sakuraaaa...just leave me alone, alright?"  
The female sighed, blinking.   
"Look...Li-kun, this isn't just about-"  
"No, Sakura. Please. Don't say it."  
Their eyes met, amber and green.  
"Syaoran." She said softly and sadly.  
Syaoran felt like lying down and crying, but he just sucked in a breath.  
"Sakura, I..."  
"KINOMOTO-SAAAAAAAAN!" A loud voice suddenly said.  
Sakura whirled around, the breeze lifting up her wavy, shoulder-length, golden-brown hair.  
"HAI, TOMOYO-CHAN?!"  
"COME ON!"  
Sakura paused, and flashed Syaoran a small, sad, smile, before going off and joining her friends  
at a picnic table.  
Syaoran sighed. Alone. Again.   
"Shouldn't I be used to this by now?" he asked himself. He was now in High School, yet his   
friend status hadn't exactly changed much.  
Though no one could deny that he and Sakura had become very close friends, in their own special,  
way. Of course, nothing more then that.  
Syaoran had never tried pushing Sakura into anything more then thier fragile friendship, though  
today hd definitely given Syaoran some insight on what went on in Sakura's mind.   
Did she...did she...have feelings for him? Stronger feeling then that of a kinship? Did she care  
for him like he cared for her?  
Hardly daring to believe it himself, Syaoran bit into his sandwich, thinking deeply.  
Above him, there came the distant roll of thunder.  
'Storm brewing.' Syaoran thought, chewing.  
  
"So? What were you doing over there?"   
Chiharu was probing Sakura, as her friend sat down witheveryone to eat lunch.  
"Excuse me?" Sakura asked, trying not to blush.  
"You and Li, I mean! Are you guys going out?" Rika questioned, raising an eyebrow.  
Sakura dropped her juice box in shock.  
"HOEEEE! WHAT ON EARTH?! Iie! No! Of COURSE not!"  
Tomoyo giggled.  
All eyes turned towards Sakura's best friend impatiently.  
Sakura made frantic - 'No! Please no! Don't you DARE say ANYTHING!' signs with her hands.  
Tomoyo smiled at everyone, then let out a polite cough.  
(All fall backwards animé style)  
Chiharu grinned.  
"Well, I still think they're madly in love with Li-"  
Sakura got up and started chasing after Chiharu. Both girls were giggling, and Chiharu started   
to run across the seldom used road that ran alongside their High School.  
Sakura laughed and ran towards her as Chiharu reached the other side, panting.  
  
Syaoran looked up from his lunch, and spotted Sakura running after her friend, smiling.  
The boy relaxed into a grin, before spotting a large van...HEADING STRAIGHT FOR SAKURA?!  
Within two seconds Syaoran was on his feet and pounding the ground.  
"SAKURAAAA! WATCH OUT!" He yelled, picking up speed. She whirled around in the middle of the   
road, then saw the van roaring towards her.  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" She screamed, forzen to the spot.  
Syaoran dove at her, pushing her hard so she stumbled,and landed at the roadside.  
Suddenly, there was a screech of tires, yelling, and then a sickening thud.  
  
Sakura got to her feet, gaping in horror as Syaoran hit the pavement, blood forming around him.  
"Syaoran..." She whispered, trembling.  
Chiharu stood beside Sakura, crying.  
"Oh my god...it's all my fault...oh Syaoran..."  
Sakura touched her friend's shoulder.  
"No, no. It's MY fault. I shouldn't have been so stupid to run like that without checking..."  
It all seemed like a blur to Sakura. The ambulance...sirens...men in white uniforms loading   
Syaoran on to a stretcher...  
And then it started to rain. Heavy droplets hit the dust, sending up little puffs.  
Soon it came down in torrents.  
The ambulance was pulling away now...and Sakura was helpless.  
And that's when her feet kicked in. She HAD to find out if Syaoran would be okay.  
So Sakura started running down the sidewalk, to the shortest route she knew of to the Tokyo  
Hospital.  
"Hold on...just hold on..." She whispered.  
  
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Tomoyo, Chiharu, Rika, Yamazaki, and Takashi entered the hospital, looking wildly around for  
any sign of (A/N: For some reason I almost typed Takeru... *koffTOO-MUCH-DIGIMONkoff* oO;;)  
Syaoran or Sakura.  
That's when Tomoyo spotted a familiar figure, sitting on the ground, all hunched up.  
"Shh...there." Tomoyo whispered, pointing in Sakura's direction. Her shoulders were shaking.  
The group cautiously approached her.  
"Sakura?" Yamazaki asked tentatively.  
She glanced up, eyes glassy.  
"K-Konnichi...konnnichi..."  
"She's delirious." Takashi stated, raising a forefinger in the air.  
Chiharu whacked him over the head, and turned back to Sakura.  
"Sakura...please, you have to get up."  
"N-No. I can't l-leave Syaoran...he...I..."  
Tomoyo gently took hold of Sakura's arm and helped her to her feet.  
Just then, a Doctor walked towards them.  
"Are you Syaoran Li's friends?"  
Sakura nodded slightly, sniffling.  
"I'm afraid I have some bad news. Your friend is in critical condition, yet I know you probably  
want to see him...but only one allowed, alright?"  
Everyone looked expectantly at Sakura.  
"I'll go, then." She said softly.  
"Fine."  
"Nurse Yukimi will take you to his room. Only ten minutes though, Miss..."  
"Kinomoto."  
"Right. Nurse Yukimi?"  
"Hai?"  
"Please escort Miss. Kinomoto to Syoaran Li's room. Arigato."  
Nurse Yukimi motioned for Sakura to follow her.  
"Right this way, please."  
Faintly from behind her, Sakura could hear the doctor questioning the others.  
"Where can we contact Li's parents?"  
"Uhh...parents?"  
Sakura smiled sadly, and followed the nurse into a semi-dark, quiet room.  
Quiet, that is, except for the steady beeping of a heart monitor. The very thought sent a chill  
up Sakura's spine.  
"Syaoran..."  
Cautiously she approached his bedside, settling down in a wooden chair alongside it.  
Through the tubes, IVs, and other medical equipment, Sakura could see Syaoran's face - pale,  
and covered with stitches and bruises.  
His leg was suspended upwards in a cast, and an inter-venus went into the vein in his right  
wrist.  
"Syaoran..."  
Sakura bent over him, studying his dis-figured face.  
A lone tear rolled down her cheek slowly, before dripping onto Syaoran's scarred cheek.  
With that, his eyes fluttered open.  
"Syaoran!" Sakura exclaimed, touching his forehead with her hand.  
He looked up, his amber eyes dull.  
"S-Sakuraaa.." He whispered, his voice hoarse.  
"Syaoran...I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I shouldn't have-hoe, it's all my stupid fault."  
"No...don't say that, Sakura. It's not your fault at all. It's no one's fault, alright? But..."  
"Yes?"  
"Why DID you run out into the...the r-road..?"  
Sakura felt her cheeks redden.  
"They were teasing me, Syaoran. About you. Chiharu said we were madly in love..."  
Sakura smiled slightly, looking down at Syoaran. Their eyes connected, and Sakura felt an  
unexplainable warmth fill her heart.  
"And Chiharu was right." Syoaran whispered.  
Sakura took Syaoran's free hand in her own, tears chasing down her cheeks.  
"Yes. She was right." Sakura whispered to him.  
Syaoran squeezed her hand gently, and gave her a peaceful smile.  
"I love you, Sakura."  
"I love you too, Syaoran."  
With that, Syaoran's hand fell limp against the bed, and he closed his eyes for the last time.  
  
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Fin. 


End file.
